Canadians Opposed to Deficit Spending, Though Seen as Justified for Healthcare, Housing

In anticipation of the upcoming federal budget, Canadians have expressed their frustrations with the country’s budget deficit. Seven in ten (69%) report that it is important for the government to maintain a balanced budget without running a deficit, while a similar proportion (64%) say Canada would not need deficit spending if the government were better managed. Only a quarter (27%) of Canadians support deficit spending as a common practice. Moreoever, a slim majority of Canadians (53%) believe government involvement in the economy usually does more harm than good. However, many Canadians seem to be more accepting of deficit spending in certain circumstances, such as to support solutions to address the housing crisis (54%) or to fund major infrastructure projects (48%). 

Although deficit spending is largely unpopular, around half (53%) say they would support it for a few years given current economic circumstances. Canadians largely agree that additional government spending on healthcare (80%) would be justified, even if it meant Canada would continue to run a deficit – with 45% saying it would be a “fully justified” area for additional spending. Around six in ten feel deficit spending on new housing projects (63%) and national defense (59%) would be justifiable. Perceptions of whether funding for additional RCMP and border officers is justified are more split (59%).
 

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between October 25 and 27, 2025, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1,000 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed online. Quotas and weighting were employed to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the Canadian population according to census parameters. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18+ been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Darrell Bricker, PhD
CEO, Ipsos Global Public Affairs
+1 416 324 2001
[email protected]

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